A/N

Here is chapter 12. Sorry it took so long to update. I went to the beach, and then I got sun poisoning -.- Lucky me…Oh, well. It'll pass. And hopefully, it won't interfere with my writing but if there is a delay in updates, that's why.

Thanks for understanding and Enjoy/Review!

Gaz woke up in the overstuffed couch that rested in the counselor's room. The lights had come back on. The room was bathed in a golden glow radiating from the light bulb. She stood, yet immediately crippled to the floor as she grasped her arm. Peeling the sleeve back, she glared at the cut spitting out blood.

Struggling to stand, she rushed out of the room and away from the counselor's office. Miss Reed hadn't yet returned. She would not know where Gaz went, but she didn't care. She had to get away from that place.

Classes were still in session, leaving the halls empty. Her shoes clattered against the tiles as she made her way through the winding corridors. She gazed about. The Skool looked so different from that of the Skool in Wonderland. She couldn't get the image out of her head.

She sprinted passed her locker and peered back over her shoulder. At the end of the hall, the memory of the janitor flashed through her head. She watched his lifeless body dangle in the air over and over, the sound of it smacking against the wall echoing.

"I've got to find Zim," she said through gritted teeth. Her hand clutched her arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It only caused the crimson to soak through the fabric of her sleeve even more and ended up staining her hand. She slowed down and stared at the blood on her hands. Another memory flashed, this time of The Monster with the gore and chunks of flesh hanging around his mouth and neck.

She glanced up at the clock, minding the time. Zim would still be in class at this time. No way could she barge into the room, demanding to see him. Yet she would not return to that counselor, either. Her options were limited, leaving her only with the choices of finding an excuse to speak to Zim, returning to Miss Reed, or going to the class she was supposed to be in.

She squinted down the corridor. A student walked out of the bathroom, the door swinging wildly behind them. Magenta, black, green; she couldn't imagine that she was this lucky.

She trotted up behind him, startling him as she cried, "Zim!"

He swiveled around on his heel. His smile appeared when he saw who it was, but quickly disappeared when he saw what she looked like. "Gaz?" he exclaimed, stepping forward. "What…What happened to you? Where did all of that blood come from?"

She glanced down at the blood covering her arms, hands, and dress. The blood from earlier, from when The Monster drugged her and dripped blood from its jowls, still stained her dress.

"Zim, what are you doing here? I-I thought you'd be in class right now," she stuttered.

"I stepped out for a minute to take a break from that annoying teacher. Told her I had to go to the bathroom. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class too?"

"Please, just listen to me," she begged. Her eyes grew wet as she shook her head. "I know you don't believe me, and you think all of this is in my head, but I need you to believe me. Please. I just—" her voice choked.

"Gaz…" He grabbed her hands.

She gasped and on instinct, pulled away.

Zim blinked, shocked. He stepped towards her, only causing her to back away even further.

"Gaz—?"

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I-I'm not trying to, I just don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know who to trust. Everything is falling apart. My worlds are twisting and the nightmares are beginning to enter this world."

"You can trust me," he replied. "You should know that by now."

"I don't know who I can trust," she repeated. "You don't know what I've been through. Dib—h-he's dead. And you—"

His face went blank, pale even. "Dib's…dead…?" he muttered.

"No, Tweedledee. At least, I think it was just him. I don't even know who is who anymore."

"Gaz, just start from the beginning. What happened?"

"Whenever I went away with Miss Reed, she took me to her office, but she had to leave. Then the lights went out, but only in that room. Then that thing came back and he attacked me."

"Who attacked you?" he asked, his eyes wild.

"The Monster. The main source of my nightmares. H-He drugged me. And when I woke up, I was back in Wonderland."

Zim sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Zim, please," she grabbed his arm. "I know it sounds impossible, but you've got to believe me." She pulled her sleeve back. "He tried to grab me. He ended up hurting my arm. And the blood on my dress is from him, too." She searched her pocket and retrieved the janitor's bloody nametag with shaky hands. "This is the janitor's nametag, from Wonderland. I went to the nightmare version of Skool. He died right in front of me, Zim. I saw that, that thing drag him into the ceiling."

Zim plucked the nametag from her hand. He glanced up at her sadly.

"I really need you to be on my side," she whispered. "No one else is. Everyone else thinks I'm crazy, and maybe I am. Maybe you're right and all of this is just in my head, but I don't think it is. I just need you to—"

He threw the nametag over his shoulder and grabbed her, pulling her close. "I've always been on your side, Gaz," he said lowly. "I didn't want to believe this stuff was real. I didn't want to believe that something was after you but since there is, I'm going to be with you every step of the way." He pulled her hair back. "I'll protect you."

The warmth of his hand against her face caused her to shudder. She didn't want to tell him that he was The Monster, the one hunting her down.

The very one he was trying to protect her from was himself.

"It's so cold there," her voice choked out. "I was alone, and it was so cold. It isn't anything like the Wonderland we went to."

"You're not going back there, okay?" He pulled her back and nodded. " You're going to stay here with me, where you'll be safe."

She smiled bitterly. "Don't make a promise you can't keep. I know I'm going back. He'll make sure of it."

"He?"

She leaned her head against his chest, mumbling, "Forget it."

He looked over her shoulder, scanning the halls. Class would still be in session for a while. Not long enough, though. He would have to return soon, but he did not want to leave her, especially in this state. He was tempted to skip Skool, just grab her and go, yet they did not need any more trouble riding their trail. There was only a few hours left of the day, but it seemed to drag.

Obviously, she did not want to go back into the care of Miss Reed, and her brother was already out of the picture. Still, he asked, "Should we involve the Dib-worm?" Ignoring her startled glare, he continued. "I hate the idea as much as you do, but we're running out of options. We can't keep letting you go back to Wonderland, especially if that thing is after you."

"What can Dib do?" she groaned. "He's as helpless as you and I are. The most that could come out of telling him is another reason for him to worry about me, and I don't need that. Not right now." She walked over to the water fountain and sneered down at her blood-covered hands. "I need to get rid of this before someone sees," she grunted.

She moved towards the flowing stream of water when a hand grabbed onto her arm, stopping her. She looked up, face-to-face with Miss Reed.

She frowned.

"M-Miss Reed," Gaz stuttered, not expecting her. "I can explain!"

"There's no need to, Gaz," the counselor replied sadly. "Obviously your condition is far worse than I ever imagined.

A/N

Uh-oh..

Chapter 13 will be up soon.